Passenger loading and unloading machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for loading and unloading passengers from multiple doors on either side of an airplane by a movable passenger carrying structure which is at least partly cantilevered over a wing of the plane, said passenger carrying structure obviating the need for a passenger holding area in a terminal building or concourse.

D United States Patent 1191 1111 3,747,147

Weese 1 July 24, 1973 [54] PASSENGER LOADING AND UNLOADING 3,ll0,048 Il/l963 Bolton 14/71 MACHINE 3,263,253 8/1966 Wollard..... I4/7l 3,391,416 7/1968 Riggles... l4/7l lnvenwrr 10 Hubbard 3,419,164 12/1968 ONeill... 244/1 18 x Chicago, [11. 60610 Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. [22] 1968 Attorney-Johnson, Diener, Emrich, Verbeck &

No.: Wagner 52 us. Cl. 14/71 [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. 565g 11/00 A hine f r l ing n nloading passengers from [58] Field of Search 244/114, 118, 137; multiple doors n either side of an airplane by a mov- 14/71 able passenger carrying structure which is at least partly cantilevered over a wing of the plane, said pas- [56] References Cited senger carrying structure obviating the need for a pas- UNITED STATES PATENTS senger holding area in a terminal building 01' CO- 3,s24,207 8/l970 Giarretto; 14 71 3,541,743 ll/l970 Kness l4/7l X 14 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures 76 K V n-a l l P 1 j lii l1 1m: 1

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" SHEET M UF 7 Java)? 2%? 1 PASSENGER LOADING AND UNLOADING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In central terminal buildings of an airport or in concourses extending therefrom, it is customary to have rooms for holding passengers awaiting embarkation, and this requires a substantial amount of space within the terminal or concourse area. It is one of the objects of my invention to conserve the space by utilizing air rights over the plane itself for holding passengers awaiting embarkation.

Considerable delay is occasioned upon the arrival of an airplane at a terminal in discharging the passengers because frequently a single door of the airplane is used even though it may have a series of doors. Similarly, in loading an airplane, the passengers generally embark through a single entrance. Considering the various sizes of airplanes, particularly those presently designed for even larger carrying capacity, it is essential that means be found for handling the large number of passengers which will be getting on and off of a plane, without undue delay. It is another object of my invention to speed passenger movement both during embarkation and disembarkation and with a minimum of conflict between the two groups.

Since the shape and size of airplanes yet to be built and put in use is known to vary greatly from those currently in use, difficulty is foreseen in providing access to the various airplanes unless special loading corridors or other boarding equipment are reserved for airplanes of particular sizes and shapes. Such arrangement, how ever, limits the use of airport space if particular areas must be set aside for particular sizes and shapes of airplanes. It is an object of my invention to provide a passenger loading and unloading machine which is adaptable to airplanes of current construction as well as those larger ones which are being constructed and designed for the future. It is a further object and advantage of my invention that the machine will accommodate itself in a universal way to the various airplanes without requiring a special type of machine for each type of airplane. Consequently all parking space for airplanes will be available for all sizes and shapes of airplanes.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a machine which will not require a change in current practices of ticketing, baggage checking and passenger movement. Consequently, it will not be neces-' sary to establish new procedures or patterns which would require retraining of personnel at considerable expense. Furthermore it does not require passengers to learn different procedures.

lt is another object of the invention to provide a machine which will lend itself to a system for expansion of airports instead of limiting their expansion. This can result in great savings not only in the handling of passengers at existing airports but also can result in savings when new terminals are built.

In the attainment of the various objects I provide a passenger loading and unloading machine which is adapted to cooperate with planes of all sizes and shapes which nose-in to a parking position at the terminal building or at a concourse. The machine is adapted to serve-as a holding space for passengers over the wing of an airplane in lieu of holding rooms in the concourse or terminal, and it provides ready ingress for passengers coming to board the plane and separate egress for those departing from the plane. The holding room is disposed between a pair of associated passageways which parallel its long axis and also extend beyond it. The room and passageways are supported on a base moving on tracks in a direction perpendicular to the cabin of the airplane. One passageway which parallels the cabin and is nearest to the airplane may be used for disembarking passengers while the holding room receives its passengers through the other passageway, both passageways being connected by ramps to the concourse or terminal building. When very large planes are to be serviced, a machine may approach the cabin from each side and be associated with the doors along the sides of the airplane by means of vestibules which extend to the doors from the passageways.

It is one of the distinctive aspects of my invention that the holding room and associated passageways are supported at least in part in a cantilevered fashion from the movable base so that a plane, when nosing-in to a parking position at the terminal or concourse may come in parallel to a passageway and holding room, with the wing underneath them. Consequently, it takes only a few moments for the machine to move on its base into the position wherein its vestibules are associated with the doors of the plane. There is no need with my invention to have the passenger carrying structure positioned completely away from the plane and its wing and then to require it to traverse the entire wing in order to reach the cabin, since the planes wing may come in under the structure.

By reason of the dihedral angle of the wings and the location of the door generally at a level lower than the outer tips of the wings, I provide means whereby the passageway adjacent the cabin may be lowered relative to the holding room. My invention also provides inclined gangways leading from the holding room level to the lowered passageway at the level of the doors of the plane. In its preferred form the passageways on either side of the holding room are selectively raised or lowered to accommodate planes on either side of the machine.

To accommodate certain planes whose floor levels are not parallel to the ground when the plane is parked, I also provide articulation of the passageways with means for supporting them at varying angles so that the passageways may conform to the floor level of the particular plane in order to make the passageway available for egress and ingress to all of the doors available along the side of the cabin.

While the invention will be disclosed in connection with the loading and unloading of passengers for an airplane, it will be appreciated that the structure may also have advantageous uses in connectlon with the loading and unloading of cargo and in the claims appended to this application where reference is made to a passenger loading and unloading plane it will be understood to include cargo loading and unloading as well.

Other uses and advantages of my invention will appear, from a consideration of the following drawings when they are taken in connection with the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the machine of my invention shown associated with an airplane (in dotted outline) and a terminal concourse;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 1, but with the base shown in elevation;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken approximately on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a similar sectional view taken approximately on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic end elevation looking in the direction of the arrows from the line 6--6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7A shows approximately one-half of the machine of my invention in cross-section associated with an airplane of one size; FIG. 7B shows approximately one-half of the machine of my invention associated with an airplane of smaller size and lesser height;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic perspective, sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows from the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing how the passenger ramps are associated with a wall of a terminal or concourse; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic showing of an alternate form of the invention having different support means for the loading and unloading machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, the number 10 indicates, generally, a terminal building or concourse thereof and the numeral 12 indicates, generally, the passenger loading and unloading machine of my invention. In the appended claims terminal or terminal building" will include an associated concourse, or the like. The machine 12 has a base 14 spaced from the terminal 10 and comprising a framework 16 extending between and supported on a wheeled undercarriage l8 and a double wheeled undercarriage 20, both riding on rails 22 and 24, respectively, (FIG. 1) to permit movement of the machine 12 in a direction perpendicular to a plane P which is parked in a nosed-in position relative to the terminal or concourse 10. The framework 16 may also support the enclosed operating mechanism 26 for the machine. The weight of the base 14, including its operating mechanism 26, is so great as to fully support in cantilevered fashion the entire passenger carrying means which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 28.

This passenger carrying means 28 comprises an enclosed central holding room 30 which is flanked on each side by a passageway such as enclosed passageways 32 and 34. It will be readily seen from FIG. 2 that at least a part of the holding room 30 and each passageway is disposed immediately above the base 14 but a substantial part extends outwardly above and beyond the base in a direction away from the terminal or concourse 10 in a cantilevered fashion which permits the wing of a plane to be disposed thereunder. See, for example, FIG. 1.

At the corners of the base 14 are vertical columns 36 which constitute hydraulic cylinders, containing within them pistons 38 (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) the upper ends of which pistons constitute columnar supports 40 for the passenger carrying means 28. FIGS. 7A and 7B show how a passenger carrying means 28 may be raised to different levels above the base 14, in order to accommodate itself to a variety of airplanes of different types.

The holding room 30 has a floor 42 which is maintained parallel to the ground and may be supplied with various seating arrangements, counters, desks and other facilities for the use of the passengers and airline personnel, very much as is now provided in the holding rooms, or waiting rooms, which are contained in either the concourse areas or terminals of present buildings. The passageways 32 and 34 which run alongside the holding room also have floors 41 and 43, respectively, which are adapted to be maintained parallel to the ground and which may be raised and lowered relative to the plane of the floor 42 of the holding room for a purpose to be described below.

A supporting superstructure, indicated generally by the reference numeral 44, is connected with the columnar supports extending upwardly from the hydraulic cylinders 36 and may comprise, as shown, a series of interconnected girders, beams and plates (all identified by the numeral 45) above the holding room 30. Also included are roof beams 46 between which there may be disposed sheets 48 of tinted glass or plastic or other roofing material. Running longitudinally at the upper center of the holding room 30 is an elongated enclosure 50 for containing mechanism such as power winches 51 (FIGS. 7A and 7B) for taking up and paying out cables 52 which extend across the superstructure 44 at various locations along its length and pass over pulley wheels 54, supported on the superstructure, whereby the cables 52 may be connected to the upper supporting beams 56 of the passageways 32 and 34 to adjustably support said passageways.

The supporting superstructure 44 extends over the holding area 30 and beyond it on the side away from the terminal 10, that is, extends beyond the columnar supports 40 away from the terminal 10 to form a cantilever support.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, each passageway (32 and 34) may be articulated by a bellows type of hinged connection indicated generally at 58 whereby each passageway is formed into two parts, such as 32A and 32B of FIG. 2. To accommodate the floor level of different types of airplanes the section 328 may be tilted down by its supporting cables in the event the floor of the airplane is correspondingly inclined when it is parked.

At the end of each passageway 32 and 34 nearest the terminal building the passageways may be connected by a bellows type of hinged connection 59 to a ramp, such as the ramps 60 and 62, which have their other ends adapted to connect with the terminal building, or concourse, 10 and to move along the face of the terminal building as the passenger loading and unloading machine moves parallel to the face of the building when it is moving perpendicularly toward or away from the cabin of the airplane. The ends of the ramps 60 and 62 adjacent the passageways 32 and 34 are supported from the super-structure 44 by the same type of supporting structure (cables, etc.) as are the passageways themselves.

In order that access may be had from the passageways 32 and 34 to a plane which is adjacent one or the other of them there are provided a plurality of extendible vestibule structures 64 carried along the outer side of each passageway, each being associated with a slidable panel 66 which may move along an upper and lower track 68 and 70 carried by the passageway in order to be able to shift the vestibules to different locations along the length of the passageway to align with doors in different sizes and shapes of planes. To accommodate the shifting of the panels 66 and their vestibule structures 64 while yet maintaining the passageway enclosed, a structural relationship to be described below, such as that shown in FIG. 9 in connection with the ramps 60 and 62 and the concourse, may be used. Each vestibule structure 64 is extensible from a retracted position to an outward position whereby it may engage the side of an airplane about a door as shown in FIG. 8, for example, or in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The outermost portions of the extensible vestibule walls are flexible so that they may adapt themselves in a known manner to the configuration of the airplane against which they engage in order to' provide a relatively weathertight connection.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 8, it will be seen that the surface of the floor 42 of the holding room 30 and the floor 41 of the passageway 32 are coplanar whereas the floor 43 of the passageway 34 is at a lower level in order that the passageway 34 may be sufficiently low to align its vestibules 64 with the doors of the airplane indicated at P. The holding room 30 remains enclosed though the passageway 34 is lowered by the cables 52 of the supporting structure 45 by reason of the bellows-like panels 76 which extend from the upper portion of passageway 34 to a beam portion 78 of the holding room.

In order to provide convenient access from the holding room 30 to the floor level 43 of the passageway 34, passengers may pass between the vertical columns 80 of the holding room and enter the passageway 32 and then proceed along it to one or another of the inclined cross gangways of which there are three shown in the drawings at 82a, 82b and 82c, two of them (82a and 820) being at opposite ends of the holding room 30 and one being at its intermediate portion as may be readily seen in FIGS. 3 and 8. It will be observed that the gangways 82a and 82b lie above and just to the side of the base 14 while the gangway 820 is at a distance from the base. Each gangway provides a graduated path from the floor 41 of the passageway 32 down to the floor 43 of the passageway 34, and floor 41 of passageway 32 is held coplanar with floor 42 of the holding room 30.

In order that the holding room continue to be fully enclosed when the passageway 34 is lowered to the position of FIG. 8 bellows-like panels 84 on either side of each gangway are employed. It will be readily apparent that if the plane were on the opposite side from that shown in FIG. 8, passageway 34 would be raised by its supporting cables and passageway 32 would be lowered to the proper level for access to the doors of the plane, whereupon the gangways 82a, 82b, and 820 would be inclined in the opposite direction from that of FIG. 8.

the terminal by means of the ramp 62. Passengers getting ready to board the airplane will have come, or still be coming, to the holding room through the ramp 60 and passageway 32 and will be seated after having their tickets checked or having taken other action necessary to clear them for boarding. When all the passengers leaving the airplane at this terminal have left theplane, those who have been in the holding room will then proceed to the passageway 32 and down the inclined gangways 82a, 82b, and 820 to the passageway 34 and will then proceed along it to one of the vestibules 64 and then through the doorways to the airplane. It will be readily appreciated that the holding room may be arranged to have first class passengers and coach passengers segregated and then directed to the airplane through separate doors. This permits rapid unloading and loading of the airplane and therefore reduces the time spent at the terminal by both the passengers and the airplane. When the plane is reloaded, the doors of the plane are closed and the vestibules 64 are retracted toward their passageway. Then the machine 28 moves a short distance from the plane and the plane withdraws from under and alongside the machine.

In FIG. 9 there is illustrated one way in which the ramps 60 and 62 of the loading and unloading machine 28 may move along the face of the concourse or terminal, while yet providing passage through the wall 98 of the concourse at various positions of the machine 28. Ramps 60 and 62 are connected by a bellows type of connection with a panel 100 at openings 102 and 110 of the panel and the panel rides on a track 106 carried While it would be possible to step directly from the holding room floor 42 to an inclined gangway (without the use of the adjacent passageway which has its floor coplanar with the floor of the holding room) that is less convenient. If desired, railings of either a permanent or removable type may be employed adjacent the gangways at the holding room level.

It will be readily apparent from viewing FIG. 8 and other figures of the drawings that when the passenger loading and unloading machine has moved to the position of FIG. 8 and its vestibule structures 64 have been aligned with the doors of the airplane and extended into engagement with the outer surface of the airplane, passengers may disembark from all of the doors along the length of the airplane. Desirably, they will proceed along the passageway 34 directly to the concourse of by the concourse. The panel is gasketed at its margins and slides along the wall 98. Larger openings 108 and 104 in the wall 98 are covered at all times by the panel 100 although the panel 100 and ramps 60 and 62 are shifted along the face of the wall 98 as the machine 28 moves along its tracks toward and away from a plane. Movement of the machine 8 10 feet toward and away from a plane is adequate, though greater movement can be provided, if desired, by the above arrangement, or by a series of sliding wall panels of the concourse. Referring now to FIG. 10 an alternate supporting arrangement for the passenger loading and unloading machine 28' is illustrated schematically. The passenger carrying means consisting of the holding room and'passageways of FIG. 10, as well as the ramp means which are adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means, may be assumed to be substantially identical to those of FIGS. 1 through 8. However, in place of the base 14 of FIGS. 1 through 8, there is provided a supporting base 88 also movable on tracks but in the form of an inclined beam 86 hinged to the base 88 at its lower end and hinged at its upper end to the piston rod 90 of a hydraulic cylinder 92. The hydraulic cylinder is also pivotally supported to the base 88 and, as may be seen in dotted outline, the piston rod may move inwardly and outwardly of the cylinder whereby the upper end of beam 86 will move upwardly or downwardly to raise or lower the passenger carrying means 28'. Since the connection 94 of the beam 86 is of a pivotal nature with the superstructure 44 of passenger carrying means 28', a steadying support for the cantilevered passenger carrying means is provided through a cable 95 connected to the superstructure 44' of the passenger carrying means and extending upwardly at an angle to a supporting structure 96 which may comprise a part of the terminal building or a tower thereof. When the piston rod 90 is moved in and out of the hydraulic cylinder 92 to raise or lower the passenger carrying means 28', the cable will be paid out or taken in by a power winch, or the like, at the terminal structure in order to keep the passenger carrying means at a proper elevation relative to the airplane.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention for purposes of explaining the same, it will be appreciated that other modifications will be apparent to one skilled in the art having my disclosure before him, and I do not intend to be limited to the particular illustration shown except insofar as the appended claims are so limited.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising, a ground supported base, passenger carrying means supported by said base and being at least partly cantilevered in a direction away from the terminal building whereby a wing of an airplane may pass thereunder when the airplane is coming to its parked position, said passenger carrying means comprising a holding room and at least one passageway extending parallel alongside said holding room both of which are adapted to be disposed with their floors parallel to the ground, means operatively associated with the said passenger carrying means carried by said passageway to engage the airplane about its doors to provide passage to and from the cabin, and means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means, said means operatively associated with the passenger carrying means includes at least one extendible vestibule being adjustable along the length of the passageway for alignment with the doors of the cabin.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein the passageway is articulated along its length and may assume inclinations corresponding to the floor of the cabin.

3. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising passenger carrying means comprising a holding room flanked by a pair of passageways, said holding room and passageways being adapted to have their floors coplanar and parallel to the ground and at least one passageway being adapted to be lowered from a coplanar position with the holding room to a level of the doors of an adjacent cabin of an airplane, means for movably supporting said passageway, and means for movably supporting the passenger carrying means for upward and downward movement and movement toward and away from a parked airplane.

4. The machine of claim 3 together with means operatively associated with at least one passageway to engage the airplane about its doors to provide passage to and from the cabin, and means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein the means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means comprises a ramp connected with each passageway.

6. The machine of claim 4 together with means providing a graduated path from the level of the holding room to the level of the lowered passageway.

7. The machine of claim 6 wherein the means providing a graduated path from the level of the holding room comprises at least one cross gangway adapted to be inclined and to extend from the non-lowered passageway downwardly to the lowered passageway.

8. The machine of claim 7 with means for selectively lowering each passageway from a position substantially coplanar with the holding room.

9. The invention of claim 8 wherein bellows-like partitions are connected between the passenger carrying means and said passageways and cross gangway.

10. The invention of claim 8 wherein each passageway is articulated along its length and may assume inclinations corresponding to the floor of the cabin.

11. The invention of claim 8 wherein the means for movably supporting said passageways is carried above the passenger carrying means.

12. The machine of claim 11 wherein the means for movably supporting said passageways comprises a series of suspension cables, supports therefor, and associated power winches, the latter being carried above the passenger carrying means.

13. The machine of claim 12 wherein the. means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means comprises a ramp connected with each passageway, and the means for movably supporting the passageways also supports the ramps at their ends adjacent the passageways.

14. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising a ground supported base, spaced from the terminal building with said base being mounted for movement generally parallel to the terminal building; passenger carrying means supported by said base and adapted to be raised and lowered relative to the base and adapted to be raised and lowered relative to the base and being at least partly cantilevered in a direction away from the terminal building whereby a wing of an airplane may pass thereunder when the airplane is coming to its parked position, said passenger carrying means comprising a holding room flanked by a pair of passageways, said holding room and passageways being adapted to have their floors coplanar and parallel to the ground and at least one passageway being adapted to be lowered from a coplanar position with the holding room to a level of the doors of an adjacent cabin of an airplane, each passageway also being articulated along its length whereby it may assume an inclination corresponding to the floor of the cabin of an airplane; means for movably supporting said passageways relative to the holding room, said supporting means being carried above the passenger carrying means; means providing a graduated path comprising at least one cross gangway adapted to be inclined from that side of the holding room at which a passageway has its floor coplanar with the floor of the holding room downwardly to the passageway which is lowered and adjacent the body of the airplane; and extendible vestibules carried in spaced relation along the length of a passageway on the outer side and adjustable along the side of the passageway for alignment with the doors of a cabin of an adjacent airplane and extendible into engagement with said airplane about said doors to provide passage to and from the cabin; and ramp means extending between the terminal building and each of said passageways and movable along the face of the terminal when the machine is moved in a direction toward or away from the airplane.

10! l 4 I t 

1. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising, a ground supported base, passenger carrying means supported by said base and being at least partly cantilevered in a direction away from the terminal building whereby a wing of an airplane may pass thereunder when the airplane is coming to its parked position, said passenger carrying means comprising a holding room and at least one passageway extending parallel alongside said holding room both of which are adapted to be disposed with their floors parallel to the ground, means operatively associated with the said passenger carrying means carried by said passageway to engage the airplane about its doors to provide passage to and from the cabin, and means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means, said means operatively associated with the passenger carrying means includes at least one extendible vestibule being adjustable along the length of the passageway for alignment with the doors of the cabin.
 2. The machine of claim 1 wherein the passageway is articulated along its length and may assume inclinations corresponding to the floor of the cabin.
 3. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising passenger carrying means comprising a holding room flanked by a pair of passageways, said holding room and passageways being adapted to have their floors coplanar and pArallel to the ground and at least one passageway being adapted to be lowered from a coplanar position with the holding room to a level of the doors of an adjacent cabin of an airplane, means for movably supporting said passageway, and means for movably supporting the passenger carrying means for upward and downward movement and movement toward and away from a parked airplane.
 4. The machine of claim 3 together with means operatively associated with at least one passageway to engage the airplane about its doors to provide passage to and from the cabin, and means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means.
 5. The machine of claim 4 wherein the means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means comprises a ramp connected with each passageway.
 6. The machine of claim 4 together with means providing a graduated path from the level of the holding room to the level of the lowered passageway.
 7. The machine of claim 6 wherein the means providing a graduated path from the level of the holding room comprises at least one cross gangway adapted to be inclined and to extend from the non-lowered passageway downwardly to the lowered passageway.
 8. The machine of claim 7 with means for selectively lowering each passageway from a position substantially coplanar with the holding room.
 9. The invention of claim 8 wherein bellows-like partitions are connected between the passenger carrying means and said passageways and cross gangway.
 10. The invention of claim 8 wherein each passageway is articulated along its length and may assume inclinations corresponding to the floor of the cabin.
 11. The invention of claim 8 wherein the means for movably supporting said passageways is carried above the passenger carrying means.
 12. The machine of claim 11 wherein the means for movably supporting said passageways comprises a series of suspension cables, supports therefor, and associated power winches, the latter being carried above the passenger carrying means.
 13. The machine of claim 12 wherein the means adapted to extend between the terminal building and the passenger carrying means comprises a ramp connected with each passageway, and the means for movably supporting the passageways also supports the ramps at their ends adjacent the passageways.
 14. A machine for use in loading and unloading an airplane which parks in a nose-in position relative to a terminal building and which has a cabin and doors, said machine comprising a ground supported base, spaced from the terminal building with said base being mounted for movement generally parallel to the terminal building; passenger carrying means supported by said base and adapted to be raised and lowered relative to the base and adapted to be raised and lowered relative to the base and being at least partly cantilevered in a direction away from the terminal building whereby a wing of an airplane may pass thereunder when the airplane is coming to its parked position, said passenger carrying means comprising a holding room flanked by a pair of passageways, said holding room and passageways being adapted to have their floors coplanar and parallel to the ground and at least one passageway being adapted to be lowered from a coplanar position with the holding room to a level of the doors of an adjacent cabin of an airplane, each passageway also being articulated along its length whereby it may assume an inclination corresponding to the floor of the cabin of an airplane; means for movably supporting said passageways relative to the holding room, said supporting means being carried above the passenger carrying means; means providing a graduated path comprising at least one cross gangway adapted to be inclined from that side of the holding room at which a passageway has its floor coplanar with the floor of the holding room downwardly to the passageway which is lowered and adjacent the body of the airplane; and extendible vestibules carried in spaCed relation along the length of a passageway on the outer side and adjustable along the side of the passageway for alignment with the doors of a cabin of an adjacent airplane and extendible into engagement with said airplane about said doors to provide passage to and from the cabin; and ramp means extending between the terminal building and each of said passageways and movable along the face of the terminal when the machine is moved in a direction toward or away from the airplane. 